China stock markets among world's worst performers in 2016
Lack of policy clarity from regulators and the weakness of the nation’s currency pushing investors overseas are among factors behind the decline, say analysts
China is the world’s second-largest economy and has one of the fastest growth rates of any G20 nation, but its stock markets have been among the worst performing in the world this year.
Starting with a botched attempt to reduce volatility that instead triggered a spectacular meltdown, Chinese bourses have spent the year struggling against feckless policymakers, massive capital flight and a languishing currency.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index struggled towards the finish line on Thursday down 12.5 per cent for the year, compared to falls of 0.6 per cent by the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong and 2.2 per cent for Japan’s Nikkei 300.
As of Thursday, it had the worst showing among the 40-plus countries tracked by The Wall Street Journal’s Market Data Centre, behind even debt-ridden Portugal.
It is a significantly worse performance than 2015’s wild ride when the Shanghai index surged by 60 per cent in the first half before plunging by more than 40 per cent in under three months. Even so, it finished the year with an overall gain of 9.4 per cent.
